While I enjoyed the rant, was that really all one take?, the ranter clearly has his biases. Personally, I think that what Harmony Gold did with Robotech, taking three completely separate series, removing the blantant sexism, and writing a totally new story linking them all was nothing short of brilliant. That being said, the IP for Robotech is a hot mess. Even the name Robotech doesn't belong to Harmony Gold but was licensed from Revell, the model company, as they already owned the trademark for an unrelated series of models. To be fair to Harmony Gold, FASA opened themselves up to litigation when they outright stole the mecha designs from Macross. All that should be ancient history though. Perhaps Harmony Gold today should concentrate on finshing the Robotech story rather then be concerned with what other people are doing. Even better, they should find someone else to license a Robotech RPG so we can get a decent game out of it.

When FASA created the Battledroids boardgame in 1984 that would become BattleTech, the designers licensed the rights from Twentieth Century Imports (TCI) to use certain pre-existing mecha from the Japanese anime series' The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Fang of the Sun Dougram and Crusher Joe. These were then used as visual representation of several BattleMechs and other units within the BattleTech universe, under new BattleTech-specific names and with BattleTech game stats devised entirely by FASA.

They didn't "outright steal" the designs.

"During a series of lawsuits FASA found out that TCI, from whom FASA's rights to the images derived, might not have been in a legal position to provide these rights to FASA in the first place. However, this was ultimately never decided. The lawsuits were settled out of court in 1996."

That is the official story from team FASA per the lawsuit. I remember reading other versions in print, pre-Internet, but since I don't have my fingers on those sources I'll concede the point. We can still agree the IP is a mess.

The pure foul mouthed fan boy gushing he throws out there for BT in this and his "Battletech: An Introduction" video has me itching to head down to the basement and pull all my old BT books off the shelf.

I'll never understand the whole IP fiasco, but I basically agree with him that it's ridiculous for this still to be a thing. Primarily about the upcoming PC game - the miniatures/wargame is still (moderately) active.

Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow, and Humble Bundleas well asPatreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the lights on and the taps flowing - Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar

Search This Blog

Translate

Contributors

Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)